Deadline for mail-in ballots is noon Saturday

Anyone hoping to avoid long lines at the polls on Election Day next week has a little more time to cast their ballots before the March 6 primary.

Early voting — both at the Board of Elections and via mail-in ballot — is still underway. The deadline for mail-in ballots is Saturday, March 3, at noon. Early in-office voting ends on Friday, March 2, at 6 p.m.

Early in-office voting is available 8 a.m.-6 p.m. each day this week, through Friday. The Hamilton County Board of Elections is located at 824 Broadway, downtown.

Today is Presidents' Day and even though it's a federal holiday, most readers probably don't have the day off from work. You can console yourself about this affront to George and Honest Abe by learning all about the holiday's quirky history. For example, it was the first holiday authorized to commemorate an American citizen (Mr. Washington) and was split among three different holidays until President Nixon decided to consolidate them in 1971. (Thanks for that, Dick.) And here's CityBeat contributer Ryan Carpe's account of interesting anecdotes involving several presidents from Ohio.

Xavier University is facing yet another federal investigation for possible civil rights violations. The probe, the third since December, again involves allegations that campus officials didn't appropriately investigate and punish complaints of sexual assaults filed by female students. In the latest incident, 2011 XU graduate Caitlin Pinciotti charges that she was sexually assaulted in late 2008. She says the university allowed the student found responsible in a March 2009 campus disciplinary hearing to flout terms of his one-semester suspension and frequently return to campus.

Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. looks back on his 41-year political career as he prepares to retire later this year. Leis, 77, was county prosecutor and a judge before being elected to his first term as sheriff in 1987. He is perhaps best known for his 1977 prosecution of Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, which was later thrown out on a technicality, and his temporarily shutting down a photographic exhibit by Robert Mapplethorpe at the Contemporary Arts Center in 1990, both of which helped solidify Cincinnati's image as a backwards, culturally inept burg on the national scene.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is in town today, stumping before Ohio's March 6 primary. Romney will visit Meridian Bioscience in Newtown this afternoon, then hold a $2,500-a-plate fundraising dinner at downtown's Great American Tower at 5 p.m.

Do you plan on using the bridge that replaces the Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River whenever it's finally built? Then you'd better have some change ready. Greater Cincinnati business leaders said tolls likely will be part of whatever financing plan eventually is cobbled together for the $2.3 billion project.

It's not just the United States and Europe that's having problems with deficits. Japan is posting a record trade deficit in January as fuel imports rose sharply following last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster. January's deficit totaled $18.5 billion, the highest since the nation began record-keeping in 1979, officials said.

Canada is threatening a trade war with the European Union over the bloc's plan to label oil from Alberta's vast tar sands as highly polluting in a key vote scheduled for Thursday. Canadian officials believe it would set a global precedent and derail its ability to exploit its tar sands, which are the biggest fossil fuel reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia.

A City Council committee approved $13.5 million that will
be going to Over-the-Rhine development. Of that money, $6 million will
go to the second phase of the Mercer Commons project, which is being
developed by Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC). The
rest will help 3CDC redevelop 18 different buildings that are mostly
around Washington Park. City Council will vote on the funding
today.

Cincinnati’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.9 percent, but
the drop was mostly attributed to people leaving the labor force.
Between September 2011 and September 2012, Cincinnati’s labor force has
actually shrunk. Still, more people were employed in September 2012 than
were employed in September 2011.

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority is
asking Cincinnati for $8.5 million to secure a Jordan Crossing shopping
center project at Bond Hill. The funds would pay for the demolition,
site preparation, marketing and redevelopment of the project.

In the second wave of interim results from an ongoing
investigation into Ohio schools’ attendance data reporting, State
Auditor Dave Yost found no evidence of attendance scrubbing in schools
with levies on the 2012 ballot. The investigation included Cincinnati
Public Schools, which means CPS was found to be clean. In a statement,
Yost said, “I’m surprised and pleased. To have zero incidents of
‘scrubbing’ is encouraging news.” The full findings for both interim
reports can be found here.

Clifton is set to get a neighborhood grocery store soon.
The neighborhood has been without one since January 2011. City Council’s
Budget and Finance Committee helped spur the new project with a tax
abatement program.

The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners held a budget
hearing yesterday, but not much new information came out. Board
President Greg Hartmann insists public safety is a priority, but he says
the sheriff’s office will have to deal with some across-the-board cuts.
The cuts won’t include closing the jail, decreasing courtroom security
or eliminating contracts with townships for patrols. The board has two more public meetings on Oct. 29 and 30.

The controversial billboards accused of attempting to
suppress voters are being taken down by Norton Outdoor Advertising, the
Cincinnati company that hosted the billboards. Meanwhile, P.G.
Sittenfeld and Lamar Advertising Company, a different billboard company,
are putting up 10 billboards that read, “Hey Cincinnati, voting is a
right not a crime!” The new billboards are supposed to encourage voting.

The University of Cincinnati has a new president: Santa
Ono. The official promotion was unanimously approved by the UC Board of
Trustees. Ono has been serving as interim president since Aug. 21, when
former President Greg Williams suddenly resigned due to “personal
reasons.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer is being accused of age
discrimination in a recently amended lawsuit. In the lawsuit, eight
former employees claim they were fired and replaced with younger, less
qualified employees.

A new rumor is going around that says it’s possible to
tamper with voting results, but fact checkers and election officials are
saying it’s not possible. The rumors started due to the Romneys’
investments in an electronic voting company.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is celebrating
its 40th anniversary. Here is a list of some of the department’s
accomplishments: The amount of rivers meeting aquatic life standards
went from 21 to 89 percent between the 1980s and today, carbon monoxide
in the air is down 80 percent since the 1970s, sulfur dioxide is down 71 percent, lead
is down 95 percent and 99 percent of community public water systems now
meet health standards, up from 85 percent in 1993.

Miami University says it will discipline two students
responsible for putting up an offensive flyer about getting away with
rape in a coed dorm bathroom.

Metro revealed its plans for an Uptown Transit District.
The district, which will cost Metro $6.9 million, is meant to better
suit the needs and growth of Uptown.

Two Democratic state lawmakers are planning legislation to
slow down the privatization of the Ohio Turnpike. Gov. John Kasich’s
administration is currently paying $3.4 million to KPMG, a private
consulting and accounting firm, to study whether leasing the turnpike to
the highest private bidder would benefit the state. Kasich says he
could use the money saved for transportation projects all around the
state. But northern Ohio residents do not seem happy with giving up a
valuable asset they helped invest in, especially if the revenue from the
Ohio Turnpike goes to regions outside of northern Ohio.

Since it's an election year, it must be about time for pandering by lawmakers seeking to keep their offices. Cue U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood), who is proposing a bill in response to fears about an influx of publicly subsidized housing for the poor into suburban areas. Chabot wants to impose time limits and work requirements on most people who get Section 8 federal housing vouchers. If approved, the bill would impose a five-year time limit on Section 8 recipients and require those 18 and older to work for at least 20 hours each week. Even if the measure passes the House, it's unlikely to pass the Senate and be signed by President Obama, leaving us to wonder what Chabot's true motive is. Any guesses?

Believe it or not, Cincinnati is Ohio's wealthiest city, sort of, according to a Business Courier study of U.S. Census data. A total of 3.7 percent of households in the Cincinnati-Middletown metropolitan area have income of $200,000 or more. The No. 2 metro area in the state was Columbus, with 3.63 percent of its households earning that much. Of course, the rankings involve entire regions, not just the city itself, and Greater Cincinnati includes such affluent enclaves like Indian Hill, Mason and West Chester Township. (Suck on it, Bexley.)

Brad Wenstrup, a podiatrist from Columbia Tusculum who scored an upset victory Tuesday in the GOP primary against U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Miami Township), is crediting grassroots organization for his unlikely win. Wenstrup and his surrogates actively campaigned in all corners of the sprawling 2nd Congressional District, which was recently redrawn through redistricting. Although Wenstrup portrayed himself as a moderate when he sought his first political office, in the Cincinnati's mayor race in 2009, his latest campaign positioned him as a darling of the Tea Party movement.

The American Red Cross has established a hotline for Clermont County residents to call if they have an immediate need for housing as a result of last Friday's tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. The number is 513-579-3024.

Despite rumors to the contrary, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland) said he won't move to Washington state to run for one of the three open congressional seats there. The longtime progressive congressman lost in Tuesday's Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur. The two lawmakers recently were redistricted into the same area. Kucinich told reporters Wednesday he will stay on and represent his Cleveland district through the end of his term in January 2013. He would have to resign his current seat if he were to move to Washington state to establish residency for a campaign there.

In news elsewhere, U.S. intelligence officials are monitoring the transfer of millions of dollars to foreign accounts by wealthy Syrians who have ties to President Bashar al-Assad. The officials are trying to determine whether the transfers mean Assad's regime is weakening or if the elites are merely hedging their bets. Assad is under increasing international pressure due to his violent crackdown on anti-government protestors during the past year.

Meanwhile, a Syrian deputy oil minister says he is resigning to join the revolt against the government. Abdo Hussameddin, 58, announced his defection in a video posted on YouTube.

The Obama administration is being criticized for how it treats whistleblowers who reveal instances of misconduct in the public and private sectors. In recent years, the White House has set a record by accusing six government employees, who allegedly leaked classified information to reporters, of violating the Espionage Act, a law dating to 1917. Also, it is alleged to have ignored workers who have risked their careers to expose wrongdoing in the corporate and financial arena, even though there are laws available to protect them.

The House is expected to vote today on a jobs bill that would mark rare agreement between the Obama administration and House Republicans, CNN reports. The proposal is comprised of six measures aimed at removing barriers to small business investment.

The Ohio Republican Party has given an excuse for Franklin
County Republican Party Chairman Doug Preisse’s racist comment: Preisse
thought he was off the record. The defense solidifies that
Preisse, who is also a top adviser to Gov. John Kasich, was being honest
— just not public — when he wrote in an email to The Columbus Dispatch,
“I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process
to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout
machine.” The comment was supposed to defend the Ohio Republican Party’s
position against expanding in-person early voting, but it only revealed
that racial politics play a pivotal role in the Republican Party’s
opposition to expanded voting.

Cincinnati has revealed the first master plan for the city
since 1980. The plan seeks to put back an emphasis on urban living with
policies that are friendlier to the environment and non-automotive
transportation.

President Barack Obama’s campaign will host an open
house at the campaign’s new offices at Over-the-Rhine tomorrow. John
Legend will be there.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank is facing a class action
lawsuit for what the plaintiff calls “payday loans.” The plaintiff
alleges that the bank was charging illegally high interest rates.

University of Cincinnati President Greg Williams is
stepping down, citing personal reasons. Santa Onos, who previously
served as provost, will take over temporarily as interim president.

Greater Cincinnati’s unemployment rate, which is not
adjusted for seasonal factors, remained at 7.2 percent in July. The
number is lower than the state’s unadjusted rate of 7.4 percent and the
federal unadjusted rate of 8.6 percent. Governments typically give
numbers that are seasonally adjusted, which is why in July a 7.2 percent
unemployment rate was reported for Ohio and an 8.3 percent unemployment
rate was reported for the United States.

Obama was in Columbus yesterday. During the trip, the president
talked mostly about young people and education in an attempt to rally
the youth vote.

U.S. spending on health care is set to rise by
50 percent by 2020, a new report says. As part of Obamacare and other
programs, the federal government is trying to bring health-care costs
down, which have risen faster than the rate of inflation in recent
history.

Scientists have caught a glimpse of a red giant — an expanding star in its final stages — devouring one of its own planets. The same will happen to our galaxy someday, painting a fairly grim future for Earth. Fortunately, humanity has a few billion years to find a solution.

In case you missed it, CityBeat is hosting a party
for the final presidential debate at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine. There
will be live tweeting, and Councilman Chris Seelbach will be on-hand to discuss this year's key issues. Even if you can’t come, make sure to live tweet during the
presidential debate using the hashtag #cbdebate. More info can be found
at the event’s Facebook page.

A new study found redistricting makes
government even more partisan. The Fair Vote study says redistricting
divides government into clear partisan boundaries by eliminating
competitive districts. In Ohio, redistricting is handled by elected
officials, and they typically use the process for political advantage by
redrawing district boundaries to ensure the right demographics for
re-election. Issue 2 attempts to combat this problem. If voters approve
Issue 2, redistricting will be taken out of the hands of elected
officials and placed into the hands of an independent citizens
commission. The Republican-controlled process redrew the First
Congressional District, which includes Cincinnati, by adding Warren
County to the district. Since Warren County typically votes Republican,
this gives an advantage to Republicans in the First Congressional
District. CityBeat previously covered the redistricting reform effort here.

Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and Republican
challenger Josh Mandel will face off in another debate for Ohio’s seat
in the U.S. Senate today. The two candidates met Monday in a feisty
exchange in which the men argued over their records and policies. Brown and
Mandel will face off at 8 p.m. The debate will be streamed live on
10TV.com and Dispatch.com. Currently, the race is heavily in Brown’s
favor; he is up 5.2 points in aggregate polling.

Cincinnati is moving forward with its bike sharing
program. A new study found the program will attract 105,000 trips in its
first year, and it will eventually expand to 305,000 trips a year. With
the data in hand, Michael Moore, director of the Department of
Transportation and Engineering, justified the program to The Business Courier:
“We want Cincinnatians to be able to incorporate cycling into their
daily routine, and a bike share program will help with that. Bike share
helps introduce citizens to active transportation, it reduces the number
of short auto trips in the urban core, and it promotes sustainable
transportation options.”

Cincinnati’s school-based health centers are showing promise. Two more are scheduled to open next year.

Echoing earlier comments by Ohio Secretary of State Jon
Husted, Ohio Senate Republicans are now talking about using the lame
duck session to take up a bill that would set standard early voting
hours and tighten voting requirements. Republicans are promising broad
consensus, but Democrats worry the move could be another Republican ploy
at voter suppression. Republicans defend the law by saying it would
combat voter fraud, but in-person voter fraud isn’t a real issue. A recent study
by the Government Accountability Office found zero examples of in-person
voter fraud in the last 10 years. Another investigation by News21 had
similar results. Republicans have also justified making voting tougher
and shorter by citing racial politics and costs.

A Hamilton County judge’s directive is causing trouble. Judge Tracie Hunter sent out a directive to
hire a second court administrator because she believes the current
county administrator is only working for the other juvenile judge. The
county government is trying to figure out if Hunter has the authority to hire a new
administrator.

This year’s school report card data held up a long-term
trend: Public schools did better than charter schools. In Ohio, the
average charter school meets slightly more than 30 percent of the
state’s indicators, while the average traditional public school meets 78
percent of the state’s indicators, according to findings from the
education policy fellow at left-leaning Innovation Ohio. The data for
all Ohio schools can be found here.

Some in the fracking industry are already feeling a bit of
a bust. The gas drilling business is seeing demand rapidly drop, and
that means $1 billion lost in profits. CityBeat wrote in-depth about the potential fracking bust here.

Ohio student loan debt is piling up. A report by Project
on Student Debt says Ohio has the seventh-highest student loan debt in
the nation with an average of $28,683 in 2011. That number is a 3.5
percent increase from 2010.

One headline about Tuesday's bitterly-contested primary in Michigan summarizes events succinctly: “Mitt wins ugly.” Mitt Romney won the contest in his native state, giving him the edge in the battle over the Republican presidential nomination, but not by a large margin. Romney received 41.1 percent of the vote to Rick Santorum's 37.9 percent. They were separated by 32,393 votes — respectable, but nothing to gloat about as Mitt outspent his rival by a large margin. Romney won a much more convincing victory in Arizona, where he got 47.3 percent of the vote compared to Santorum's 26.6 percent.

All of this means next week's “Super Tuesday” will be even more closely watched. There are seven primaries (Ohio, Georgia, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia) and three caucuses (Alaska, Idaho and North Dakota) slated for March 6 and — once again — the Buckeye State could be a bellwether for the race. “While Santorum’s own super PAC will help him remain viable in Ohio, a Romney win there, combined with some other key states that day (Virginia will not not be seen as a clean victory since only Romney and Ron Paul are on the ballot), could start winding down the race,” Politico reported.

City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. defended his recommendation to give a Hamilton soul food restaurant nearly $1 million in grants and loans to create a second location at The Banks district in downtown Cincinnati. Some officials have criticized the pending deal after learning Liz and Trent Rogers, owners of Mahogany’s Cafe and Grill, owe about $49,000 in back taxes to the federal government. In a memo to City Council sent Tuesday afternoon, Dohoney wrote that city financing is the only way to attract small, minority-owned businesses like Mahogany’s to The Banks, and fits with the developers’ vision to include some locally owned restaurants in the project.

With Cincinnati Public Schools facing a $43 million deficit, Superintendent Mary Ronan said some layoffs are likely. If there are layoffs, affected staffers will be informed during the last week of April. “Everyone has balanced their budget by taking money away from the district," Ronan told WLWT-TV (Channel 5). "So now, we're looking at layoffs."

It's time to get rid of that ratty old sofa sitting next to your garage. Cincinnati City Council will vote today on a proposed ordinance that will place restrictions on what residents can store outside of their homes. Any item intended for use in the interior of a house, like appliances and most furniture, won't be able to be left outside for an extended period of time. Violators would have 10 days to correct problems. If the person doesn't, he or she would face fines ranging from $250 to $1,000, along with up to one year in jail.

If you think corporate executives are coddled or that bankers add little of true value to the economy, you might want to skip this blurb. Fifth Third Bank paid $7.1 million to CEO Kevin Kabat last year, giving him a 49 percent compensation increase. Kabat's pay hike is due, at least partially, to the bank’s repayment last year of $3.4 billion it borrowed through the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). That got Fifth Third released from federal restrictions on executive pay, The Business Courier reports.

In news elsewhere, three investigations have been launched into the Koran burnings at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan by the U.S. military. The event ignited days of deadly protests that caused the deaths of up to 30 Afghanis and might have caused the shooting deaths of four American soldiers.

A prisoner held at the Guantanamo Bay prison since 2003 is expected to plead guilty soon at a war crimes tribunal. Pakistani Majid Khan, 32, who had lived in the United States, will admit to terror-related charges in exchange for leniency. He faces five war crimes charges, including conspiring with al-Qaeda, murder and attempted murder.

Twenty-five suspected members of the loose-knit Anonymous hacker movement were arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America by Interpol, the international law enforcement agency. The suspects, aged between 17 and 40, are suspected of planning coordinated cyber-attacks against institutions including Colombia's defense ministry and presidential websites.

With a push from Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls and City Council approval, the Homeless to Homes plan is moving forward.
The shelter-moving plan, which was originally put together by
Strategies to End Homelessness, will use $37 million in loans to build
new shelters for the Drop Inn Center, City Gospel Mission and the YWCA.
But some homeless advocates have criticized the plan because it forces
them to move homeless shelters they don’t want to move. Josh Spring,
executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, says
the money could be spent better developing affordable housing and
creating jobs to help eliminate homelessness.

Just one day after President Barack Obama’s re-election, one left-leaning Ohio group was already making demands.
They want federal unemployment benefits renewed. The group’s research
director, supported by economic data, says the expiration of those
benefits could have bad repercussions for the unemployed and the federal
and state economies.

A state appeals court ruled today that the city of Cincinnati is allowed to reduce retirees’ health benefits.
The cuts in benefits are meant to shore up the city’s pension plan, but
retirees, including former City Clerk Sandy Sherman, filed a lawsuit arguing
the benefits can only be increased, not decreased. The case could still
move to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Hamilton County’s new Democratic sheriff, Jim Neil, is already making plans.
He says he favors alternative sentencing to deal with jail
overcrowding, and he wants to audit and restructure the sheriff
department’s budget to cut waste.

State Democrats and Republicans have an explanation for two incumbents losing in the Ohio Supreme Court: names.
On Democrat William O’Neill defeating Republican incumbent Robert Cupp,
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett said O’Neill won because
he has an Irish-American name. Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris
Redfern said, “Sharon Kennedy is a great ballot name. That’s why she
won.” Redfern says he will introduce legislation that will require party
affiliation to appear on the Ohio Supreme Court ballots.

Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan said the approval of Issue 4, which extends City Council terms to four years, will be good for local business. She argues “there’s a great business case to be made for having a more stable and reliable local government.”

With 273 days remaining until the presidential election, some of our readers might already be getting sick of listening to the latest blather from the candidates. Still, a rather blistering analysis of President Obama’s recent actions at Politico is worth checking out. Maybe this line will pique your interest: “So much for the high road: Victory is more important than purity … He’s made a series of calculated, overtly political gestures that are far more transactional than transformational.”

Ghiz was described as having a penchant for starting arguments that have been “personal, petty and nasty,” while Winburn's “unpredictable behavior” was noted along with Thomas' problems fully grasping budget and finance issues.